Originally Posted by
orbitmic
I think that if you are willing to make that argument, then you have to make it consistently. In other words, I'm happy for people to say that all Y flying in the same in Europe, if they also believe, for instance, that there is really no reason to choose BA over U2 or FR, or that flying Y or C or BA is "more or less the same" and in that case that, paying for CE if it costs any more than ET. It would suggest that you think of short haul flying as a way to get from point A to B as smoothly as possible and are service-insensitive which is perfectly coherent.
At that rate, by the way, it would also be important to note that many will think of long haul flying as exactly the same.
This top part of the answer is surely the heart of it: similar aircraft, similar seats, similar number of passengers, similar service level (with minor tweaks), equally congested flight paths. That's the materiality of it. The other issues you mention such as BoB are perhaps material to some people, some of the time, but not others (well not me) however none of us can avoid those first factors, short of using peripheral airlines - nor the current range of fares. It would have to be so, otherwise airlines wouldn't be offering such similar products - competition takes the market in a particular direction, a direction which allows BA and U2 to both offer fares to Grenoble for around £29 one way. easyJet does have a loyalty scheme, Flight Club, it just doesn't have many benefits.
For long haul I think the variations - and fares - remain much more marked. Even the existence of a premium economy cabin - hugely successful for BA - is simply not generically present on most Middle East and Asian airlines, and very few airlines offer First as well as Business. The gap from ET to CE is often remarked on here, but it is as of nothing compared to the gap between Level or Norwegian versus say AF La Première, with fare choices equally wide.